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Frequently Asked Questions
Is
there evidence that this approach to education works?
Studies
in homes, schools and workplaces repeatedly show similar results: people who
are allowed to make their own decisions about how they behave perform more competently
and more effectively than those whose behavior is strictly controlled and
judged by others.
Longview
is based upon the practices of Summerhill in England and on the Sudbury schools
throughout the United States. Sudbury Valley School (in Massachusetts)
has conducted extensive surveys of all its former students and has found that
they are successful people. Most have gone to four-year colleges and almost all
have pursued some form of higher education. The range of former students’
occupations includes chefs, musicians, community organizers, doctors,
undertakers and professors. Considering the emphasis on self-motivated
activities, it should come as no surprise that 45% of former students are
entrepreneurs.
How
does the school ensure that students learn the "basics"?
The
school provides a setting in which knowledge is useful. For example, the
written word is everywhere at the school. Sooner or later, every student
recognizes the usefulness of learning to read. At that time, staff members, other
students and often parents help him or her to learn this skill. In this
way, reading and writing become natural components of children’s lives so that
they hardly think of them as “subjects” in and of themselves.
The
dynamic is similar, not only for other "basics" such as arithmetic,
but also for important skills rarely emphasized in other schools. Students work
hard at improving their oral communication skills, at treating other people
with respect, and at cleaning up after themselves. They also learn where their
interests lie and how to achieve the things they truly want. Though these
skills are often difficult to master, students learn them voluntarily because
they are so useful and relevant to the students’ interests.
Mark Jacobs Barbara Jacobs Teacher—Director Where the
love of learning never ends
Longview School, LLC
296 Locust Avenue
Cortlandt Manor
New York 10567
Ph. (914) 739-2742
Fax (775) 205-6510
Teacher—Director